Frank Field warns nurses' pay-parking commitment must be honoured as hospital boss resigns

21 December 2017

The chief executive of Wirral University Hospitals NHS Trust has resigned.

David Allison had been the chief executive at the trust since 2012 but has decided to quit for ‘personal reasons’.

Now an MP is warning that whoever replaces him must honour a commitment to review pay-parking for nurses at Arrowe Park Hospital.

Current director of finance, David Jago has now taken over the role of acting chief executive and designated officer.

A Wirral University Teaching Hospital spokesman said: “Over the past six years since his appointment as Chief Executive, David Allison has led the organisation through some very challenging times for what remains a pressured health service locally, regionally and nationally.

“For what are personal reasons, David has decided to return to the North East of England to pursue a career closer to his family, and will for a period of time be working with our regulator, NHS Improvement.

“Consequently, the Board has put in place interim arrangements while a permanent appointment is secured, and I am pleased to announce that Mr David Jago, currently our Director of Finance has taken up the role of Acting Chief Executive and Designated Officer.”

Mr Allison was appointed after the departure of Len Richards who resigned in 2011 after receiving wide criticism.

In October after a Globe petition backed by almost 10,000 readers, Mr Allison agreed to review charging staff members £10 to park at Arrowe Park Hospital.

Nurses who work at the hospital had contacted us in September after security guards had turned them away from on-site patient and visitor parking because they did not have a staff parking fob.

They also expressed safety concerns over parking in an off-site location during a night shift due to a spate of attacks in the area.

Birkenhead MP Frank Field delivered the petition to Mr Allison during a meeting at the hospital.

Mr Field told the Globe: “The new chief executive will have a huge amount of work to undertake, to ensure patients are treated and cared for at the highest possible standards.

“A crucial piece of work, too, will be to honour the commitment made by David Allison, to review the current system of car parking charges with the intention of making it much, much fairer than it is now.

“I will be asking for a report back on that review, to ensure this hard-fought commitment is being honoured and results in a fairer deal being delivered.”